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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
This has been on my radar forever. The first issue has me intrigued with the world building and the relationship between the main couple. Loved that cliffhanger ending with Gramma and Grampy showing up!
Love the characters and the world! Can't wait to see what happens next!!
Wow. Sad and gory and depressing and beautiful and funny all wrapped up in one book, with amazing creepy-weird-gorgeous art. This is insanely good.
Interesting story, deep characters, kept me engaged as to what will happen next in the Saga.
Image Comics, how do you do the voodoo that you do?
It seems that every month I'm reading another Image title: Southern Bastards, Sex Criminals, Stray Bullets, and now Saga. Not only are these titles cheap, particularly in trade paperback form, but the storytelling has leaped forward well beyond mainstream comics. Image is well beyond their Spawn twilight years.
This is my second read of volume one and itprobably will not be the last. What makes Brian K. Vaughan a remarkable storyteller is that he can take an absurdist universe and set within it stories that are so utterly relatable that the universe somehow seems to be the one in which we currently reside.
It is only when an image such as the following pops up that the reader is forced to give pause and bask in the upside down nature that is the world of Saga:
The story follows a war between a planet (Landfall) and its moon (Wreath). Because both are codependent upon each other's presence to ensure survival, their war has been outsourced to other planets. Thus, a massive amount of collateral damage occurs. This would be the equivalent of the United States and Canada (coincidentally the main plot of Brain K. Vaughn's latest title, We Stand on Guard) going to war against each other in China.
The selfishness of the two planets sets the backdrop for the actual story, which follows two pacifists from each side who have just birthed a baby that is half Landfallian and half Wreathian. The government is desperately seeking the parents, Alana and Marko, in order to execute them as allowing them to live could endanger the public's support of the war.
The mark of a good comic is a solid grounding in reality as well as a willingness to stretch our imaginations beyond their natural limits. While Saga is a study in the politics of war, interracial marriage, euthanasia, familial rights, combat shock, and sex trafficking, it's also a comic featuring men with robot heads explicitly mating, severed torso ghosts, arachnid bounty hunters, and a lie detecting feline.
If you ask for more, you're a selfish bastard.
But go ahead and be selfish, because not only do you get one of the best science fiction stories on the comic shelves, but you also get Fiona Staples gorgeous artwork that reflects the depth of characterization put forth within the story. Additionally, the coloring is gorgeous and spans just about everything on the spectrum. Go. Read. Now.
It seems that every month I'm reading another Image title: Southern Bastards, Sex Criminals, Stray Bullets, and now Saga. Not only are these titles cheap, particularly in trade paperback form, but the storytelling has leaped forward well beyond mainstream comics. Image is well beyond their Spawn twilight years.
This is my second read of volume one and it
It is only when an image such as the following pops up that the reader is forced to give pause and bask in the upside down nature that is the world of Saga:
The story follows a war between a planet (Landfall) and its moon (Wreath). Because both are codependent upon each other's presence to ensure survival, their war has been outsourced to other planets. Thus, a massive amount of collateral damage occurs. This would be the equivalent of the United States and Canada (coincidentally the main plot of Brain K. Vaughn's latest title, We Stand on Guard) going to war against each other in China.
The selfishness of the two planets sets the backdrop for the actual story, which follows two pacifists from each side who have just birthed a baby that is half Landfallian and half Wreathian. The government is desperately seeking the parents, Alana and Marko, in order to execute them as allowing them to live could endanger the public's support of the war.
The mark of a good comic is a solid grounding in reality as well as a willingness to stretch our imaginations beyond their natural limits. While Saga is a study in the politics of war, interracial marriage, euthanasia, familial rights, combat shock, and sex trafficking, it's also a comic featuring men with robot heads explicitly mating, severed torso ghosts, arachnid bounty hunters, and a lie detecting feline.
If you ask for more, you're a selfish bastard.
But go ahead and be selfish, because not only do you get one of the best science fiction stories on the comic shelves, but you also get Fiona Staples gorgeous artwork that reflects the depth of characterization put forth within the story. Additionally, the coloring is gorgeous and spans just about everything on the spectrum. Go. Read. Now.
Telly-headed robots copulating doggy style. Torsoless women running brothels. Babysitting ghosts singing lullabies. Magic spells. A romance between two star-crossed lovers -- an insect-winged heroine and a ram-horned hero as they walk through parenthood with their newborn, battling against each race's bounty hunters in the quest for survival.
What's not to love? Quite accurately described as 'Star Wars meets Game Of Thrones'. Prepare to get hooked! I don't think I'm putting this one down until I've exhausted it.
*flies away on a wooden rocketship to resume devouring the rest of this glorious and hilarious tale*
What's not to love? Quite accurately described as 'Star Wars meets Game Of Thrones'. Prepare to get hooked! I don't think I'm putting this one down until I've exhausted it.
*flies away on a wooden rocketship to resume devouring the rest of this glorious and hilarious tale*
Great pacing, exciting, unexpected, surprising. Nice tone and flavor. I will read more.
Update, October 2017: Now I have also read volumes 2, 3 and 4. Still very engaging. It's a fast-paced, very visual story. I love the art, the colors, the active lines. The characters aren't super-deep, but they're very likable.
Update, November 2017: Finished reading volumes 5 and 6. Only one left until volume 8 comes out in January. The fabulous artwork continues, and so does the tension. Hazel has become quite a little person — I can hardly wait to see more of her!
Update, April 2020: Recently returned to finish volumes 8 and 9 (I guess I forgot to add volume 7 here earlier). This series continues to surprise and delight. The story and art maintain the same high quality, and the reappearance of a nemesis from the earliest volumes has certainly upset things!
.
Update, October 2017: Now I have also read volumes 2, 3 and 4. Still very engaging. It's a fast-paced, very visual story. I love the art, the colors, the active lines. The characters aren't super-deep, but they're very likable.
Update, November 2017: Finished reading volumes 5 and 6. Only one left until volume 8 comes out in January. The fabulous artwork continues, and so does the tension. Hazel has become quite a little person — I can hardly wait to see more of her!
Update, April 2020: Recently returned to finish volumes 8 and 9 (I guess I forgot to add volume 7 here earlier). This series continues to surprise and delight. The story and art maintain the same high quality, and the reappearance of a nemesis from the earliest volumes has certainly upset things!
.
